TruHearing, West Jordan, Utah, which provides discount programs offering significant savings on digital hearing aids and services to health plan members, announced that it has completed a private equity transaction with Sorenson Capital, Salt Lake City.
According to TruHearing, Sorenson Capital acquired a significant minority interest in the company in late December, positioning the Utah-based company to continue its rapid growth. TruHearing is reportedly the nation’s first state-approved Discount Medical Plan Organization to provide considerable savings to health plan members on state-of-the-art digital hearing aids from five of the world’s leading manufacturers and TruHearing’s private label selection.
“Sorenson Capital’s investment in our company speaks volumes about TruHearing’s potential in the marketplace and will allow us to deliver an even greater advantage to our health plan members, provider network, corporate partners, and employees,” said TruHearing CEO Lindsay Atwood. “TruHearing will benefit from Sorenson’s expertise and a common philosophy and set of values that will help us continue to build for the future.”
“We’ve been very impressed with TruHearing’s strong strategic position, value proposition, and potential for sustained growth as we’ve watched them for several years,” said Fraser Bullock, a co-founder and a managing director of Sorenson Capital, who was also the president and CEO of the Salt Lake Organizing Committee for the Olympic Winter Games of 2002 and an original partner of Bain Capital. “We’re looking forward to helping guide the company to even greater success during this next phase.”
As part of the agreement, Sorenson Capital will receive two seats on TruHearing’s board of directors. TruHearing’s board now consists of Bullock; Ralph Atkin, founder of SkyWest Airlines; Steven D. Bench, entrepreneur/investor, founder of Heatizon Systems and co-founder of Grand Valley Transmission Company; Scott Frazier, a founder of the Utah Angels venture group; Tommy Macdonald, Sorenson Capital vice president; and TruHearing CEO Lindsay Atwood.
Atwood founded TruHearing in 2003 with the goal of delivering brand-name hearing aids and professional hearing services at affordable prices, improving quality of life for more than 150 million health plan members nationwide. Initially developed at the request of health plans to help reduce member costs, TruHearing’s programs offer discounts on digital hearing aids and services, which can save members and their extended families thousands of dollars. TruHearing also works with a nationwide network of more than 2,800 audiologists and hearing instrument specialists who provide expert advice and professional services at discounted rates.
The TruHearing MemberPlus program works like a warehouse club membership, saving members up to $1,300 off average national retail prices for a yearly membership fee of $108. TruHearing is waiving the fee through 2013 for participating health plan members.
The program also offers an opportunity to add up to four extended family members (parents, grandparents, siblings, uncles/aunts) for a membership fee of $79 per guest member per year. MemberPlus also offers a 45-day money-back guarantee on membership and all purchases. For more details about TruHearing, visit www.TruHearing.com.
Sorenson Capital is a private equity firm that provides small to middle-market buyout and growth equity investments, with a particular focus on opportunities in selected states in the Mountain and Western regions of the United States, according to the firm.
Source: TruHearing
